Blank Charge

On the day when his parents had an accident, Jin Zhou happened to be taking the college entrance examination.

An overloaded truck suddenly changed lanes and crashed into the car driven by Jin Zhou’s father, reducing it to a wreck. Jin Wei and his wife were killed on the spot, with no chance for survival. The truck driver emptied his pockets to compensate, but in the end, he was sentenced to six years in prison for causing the accident.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary accident, and Jin Zhou had never thought there might be a mysterious story behind it.

Calculating the days, that truck driver—also known as Wang Da Rong, as mentioned by Ren Wenli—should have been released from prison long ago.

And what about Jin Zhou?

He missed two subjects in the college entrance examination, let alone his dream political and legal university, he couldn’t even get admitted to an ordinary undergraduate program.

After much difficulty in picking himself up, he planned to retake the exam the following year. However, when he approached Yang Shi Yu for tutoring, he who had always been gentle and patient with him looked at him indifferently and asked, “Why do you insist on going to this university?”

Apart from being influenced by his family, the reason Jin Zhou longed for that particular political and legal university was because it was the same school Yang Shi Yu attended.

Yang Shi Yu was an outstanding student at the political and legal university. He had been tutoring Jin Zhou since his first year of college, and he was three years older than Jin Zhou. Back when Jin Zhou just entered high school, he was playful and didn’t like studying. It was under Yang Shi Yu’s guidance that he gradually started excelling in his class.

On the night before the college entrance examination, Yang Shi Yu encouraged Jin Zhou by suggesting that they become judges together in the future.

If it weren’t for the accident that year, Jin Zhou would have become Yang Shi Yu’s junior in college and might be working in a court by now.

However, reality does not follow hypotheticals, and fate likes to play jokes.

After Jin Zhou’s parents had the accident, Yang Shi Yu suddenly changed into a different person. He said that being a judge meant low pay and heavy workload ,with nothing to aspire for hence discouraging Jin Zhou . He also mentioned that he was approaching graduation and didn’t have time to tutor Jin Zhou anymore.

During that time, Jin Zhou felt lost and didn’t know where to go. He gave up on retaking the exam, started working at a car repair shop, and later met Liu Yongchang and the group of unruly friends.

As for Yang Shi Yu on the other side…

“The court is now in session.”

The man sitting in the middle of the judge’s bench pounded the gavel, and his gaze, through the lenses of his gold-framed glasses, fell on the open case file.

Anti-slip chains hung from the side of his glasses, swaying left and right as he read the case file, sliding back and forth on his dignified judicial robe.

The voices of the prosecutor and the defendant quickly filled the courtroom with questions and answers. Perhaps hearing something unsatisfactory, the man furrowed his brows slightly and raised his gaze towards the defendant, coldly saying, “This is an investigation in court, not the time for your repentance.”

Behind the defendant, the public gallery was empty, with only a few family members present. Thus, the man’s gaze inevitably swept over Jin Zhou, who was sitting in the corner.

After a brief pause, his gaze retracted.

Jin Zhou suddenly felt a bit powerless. He remembered that when he first received his lawyer’s license, he had come to watch Yang Shi Yu in court, just like today. At that time, Yang Shi Yu had just become a full-fledged judge, and seeing Jin Zhou sitting in the gallery, he had been surprised and got the trial procedures wrong.

Looking at Yang Shi Yu’s reaction now, it seemed that he was getting more and more used to seeing Jin Zhou’s presence in the courtroom, and Jin Zhou, as a regular visitor to the court, was also getting more and more used to being treated as if he were invisible by Yang Shi Yu.

When the questioning by the prosecutor ended, Yang Shi Yu looked at the defendant and asked in a calm tone, “How long have you been married to the victim?”

The defendant replied, “Five years.”

“Five years of marriage,” Yang Shi Yu’s tone suddenly became stern, “and just because the food she cooked was not delicious, you took a knife and attacked the victim?”

The defendant responded, “It wasn’t just once or twice. It was a long-standing accumulation of conflicts. We’ve been married for so long, and she never once cooked a single meal that tasted good.”

Yang Shi Yu asked, “So, do you consider your motive to be reasonable?”

The defendant replied, “Not really. I just acted impulsively…”

Nine years had passed, and Yang Shi Yu hardly seemed to have changed. He still had clean and neat short hair, occasionally revealing a row of bright teeth through his thin lips, releasing a calm but forceful voice.

In the in-county and domestic legal system, judges were different from those in the Anglo-American legal system. They actively questioned the defendants and investigated the facts of the crime. In cases where the facts were clear, some judges even pressurized the defendants to make them realize their mistakes.

Clearly, Yang Shi Yu was an aggressive type of judge, making the defendant stutter and panic under his questioning.

Since the victim survived, the prosecutor suggested a sentence of more than three years but less than ten years for attempted murder. The defense lawyer, on the other hand, argued for a charge of intentional injury and a sentence of less than three years.

The former charge was more serious, while the latter was lighter. The defense lawyer had adopted a strategy of arguing for a lesser offense, but based on the current evidence, Jin Zhou felt it was quite uncertain.

The defendant had the intention to commit murder ; it was just that he failed. If Jin Zhou were the judge, he would probably not adopt the defense lawyer’s claim.

His thoughts abruptly halted, and Jin Zhou chuckled at himself. “If he were a judge” was clearly a deceptive assertion.

Whenever he thought about this, Jin Zhou couldn’t help but curse Yang Shi Yu under his breath.

Saying that being a judge had nothing to aspire to clearly crushing Jin Zhou’s hopes and dreams of being a judge, Yang Shi Yu led Jin Zhou astray . Yet, now this person had become a judge himself.

It was like two brothers who both had someone they loved. For the sake of brotherly loyalty, they agreed not to pursue a relationship. But in the end, one of them secretly won over the beloved person, which was something that should never have happened.

But speaking of which…

Jin Zhou let out a sigh and put aside his thoughts of cursing.

He and Yang Shiyu were already like strangers. Even if they were to encounter each other in the courthouse corridor, they wouldn’t even exchange greetings. Jin Zhou naturally had no right to accuse Yang Shiyu of lacking  loyalty.

As Jin Zhou had expected, the final verdict in court was intentional homicide, but with a lenient punishment.

The defendant’s mother broke down in tears, claiming that her son had a pure and good-natured character and had encountered a bad woman, cursing her to have an unfortunate fate.

Jin Zhou had witnessed many such dramas in the courtroom. Initially, he would reflect on the various aspects of human nature and the diversity of life. However, now he had gotten used to it – his heart remained unaffected.

Coming out through the side door of the public gallery, Yang Shiyu coincidentally walked out of the courtroom through the main door. The elevator wasn’t far from the main door, so under normal circumstances, Yang Shiyu should have walked straight toward the elevator without looking at the side door.

However, as Yang Shiyu exited the courtroom, he glanced in the direction of the side door, though seemingly unintentional, before proceeding towards the elevator.

Although this action happened in an instant, Jin Zhou accurately caught it.

—Yang Shiyu was looking at him.

Reaching this conclusion, Jin Zhou couldn’t help but feel amused. After all those years, it seemed that he finally had some presence in Judge Yang’s eyes.

“Yang Shiyu,” Jin Zhou called out.

With numerous court personnel around, Jin Zhou was always polite and never directly called people by their names. Only Yang Shiyu could “enjoy” this treatment.

A tall figure stopped upon hearing the voice and turned to look at Jin Zhou.

The corridor wasn’t lit, and the lighting was dim. Various people walked past Yang Shiyu, but he remained in place, his expression hidden in the shadows, waiting for Jin Zhou to approach.

“I heard about Wang Darong’s case.” Without any need for Ren Wenli to remind him, Jin Zhou could tell from the headlines alone.

Jin Zhou approached Yang Shiyu, intending to continue speaking, but he suddenly noticed something that displeased him.

Since cutting off contact with Yang Shiyu, Jin Zhou had grown taller and had reached a height of 1.83 meters, where he had remained. He remembered Yang Shiyu had once said that he was 1.82 meters tall. In other words, Jin Zhou had always believed that he was taller than Yang Shiyu.

However, now that he got closer, he realized that while he had been growing taller, Yang Shiyu hadn’t stopped either and was still slightly taller than him.

Jin Zhou reluctantly glanced at Yang Shiyu’s shoes but couldn’t find anything special about them.

He suddenly realized his own behavior was somewhat childish, so he lifted his gaze and looked at Yang Shiyu again, only to catch Yang Shiyu glancing at his flamboyant shirt, his expression showing a hint of displeasure.

“The investigation is still ongoing,” Yang Shiyu quickly masked his expression and maintained the usual distance when speaking to Jin Zhou.

“Has Wang Darong been found?” Jin Zhou asked.

He had asked Ren Wenli the same question, but she hadn’t said much, only mentioning that it couldn’t be disclosed for the time being, presumably afraid that Jin Zhou would act impulsively.

Jin Zhou could understand because he and Ren Wenli were only acquaintances, not close friends.

But it was different with Yang Shiyu.

Yang Shiyu didn’t have any relatives, and when Jin Zhou was in his senior year of high school, Yang Shiyu even spent the Spring Festival at Jin Zhou’s home.

Even if they hadn’t spoken for a long time, at least about Jin Zhou’s parents’ case, they should at least share information and come to a consensus.

However, Jin Zhou was mistaken. He heard Yang Shiyu say indifferently, “I can’t disclose such matters to you.”

Jin Zhou was a bit surprised by that response. “why??”

“A prosecutor will follow up,” Yang Shiyu said, “Don’t get involved.”

“Big brother, we are talking about my parents, okay?” Jin Zhou unconsciously used the tone he would use when talking to his gang of friends. With an annoyed tone, he added, “Big brother,” emphasizing the estrangement between them.

“I understand how you feel, but I’m not obligated to disclose the details to you,” Yang Shiyu said, “Once the prosecutor’s office investigates thoroughly, they will provide you with a result.”

Jin Zhou suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with Yang Shiyu’s words. The mention of “understanding feelings” and such. Upon careful consideration, it turned out Yang Shiyu regarded him as a victim’s family member, using the same rhetoric to appease him.

If it were someone else’s case or a different presiding judge, Jin Zhou wouldn’t mind not knowing the details.

But the problem was that, for Yang Shiyu, were his parents and he merely ordinary “victims” and “victims’ family”?

“Yang Shiyu,” Jin Zhou couldn’t hold back anymore, furrowing his brows, he asked, “What exactly is going on?”

When he was eighteen, Jin Zhou was still an ignorant youngster who was constantly confused by a lot of things.

Looking back now, the thing he couldn’t understand the most was Yang Shiyu’s indifferent attitude with him.

How could a person be so heartless? His dad even treated Yang Shiyu as his own.

“I remember my dad often discussing cases with you,” Jin Zhou suppressed the anger welling up inside him, “Do you know anything about what happened back then?”

“I’m busy,” Yang Shiyu didn’t answer. He raised his wrist, checked the time, and said, “Let me make this clear one more time, don’t interfere in this matter.”

Yang Shiyu’s figure quickly disappeared into the elevator, as if the brief conversation had never occurred.

Jin Zhou suddenly realized that the glance Yang Shiyu gave him wasn’t meant to convey any message; from beginning to end, he just wanted him to stay out of it.

In the past, Jin Zhou would have unquestioningly obeyed Yang Shiyu.

But just as Yang Shiyu misunderstood Jin Zhou, Yang Shiyu had also misunderstood something.

The current Jin Zhou was no longer the naive little kid from back then. Even Liu Yongchang couldn’t control him. So what position did Yang Shiyu hold?”